Discolandia Languishes

Ritmo Latino, Virgin Megastore, Tower and Mission Music are all gone. But on any given day, customers still drop by Discolandia on 24th Street to listen to albums and visit with its owner, Silvia Rodriguez.

The store is more sparse now. Gone are the racks of LPs, cassettes and CDs that once packed Discolandia to the brim. After 38 years in business, pressing cultural and economic times threaten to close the neighborhood doors that Tito Puente and Celia Cruz once walked through.

“Discolandia is the only place to buy the classic music,” said Rodriguez. She carries boleros, Cuban salsa and anything from the 1950s, ’60s or ’70s – still her strongest sellers.

Marina Huezo, who has been a customer for more than 30 years, said, “They’ve always had music from all over Latin America. I’m from El Salvador, but I grew up listening to old singers like Celia Cruz and Olga Guillot, and I remember. I even bring my grandson here.”

For now, Rodriguez, 67, plans to keep the store open. “My friends come by and they talk really nicely of the old times,” she said. “There was so much youth and desire, I left part of my youth here.”